Cadillac Allante Forum Discussion, New Owners of a 1987 Allante..... in Past Cadillac Vehicle Discussion; Update: the Allante lives. After swapping the distributor the car fired right up after a jumpstart. Unfortunately the alternator isn't ...

Re: New Owners of a 1987 Allante.....

Update: the Allante lives. After swapping the distributor the car fired right up after a jumpstart. Unfortunately the alternator isn't alligned with the rest of the belt drive so the car ate the serpentine belt. I need to move the alternator back like a half inch and replace the serpentine belt. The battery is also shot and doesn't hold a charge. Progress!!

Re: New Owners of a 1987 Allante.....

I guess it's time for an update. Haven't been around much lately but some got done, for one the car is now standing. Correct, four fully inflated tires that hold air. Next thing on the list is to take care of the belt drive issue, I noticed that the allignment isn't the problem. The alternator is off a different car so the pulley is too narrow. My idea is to swap pulleys with the old one and get a new serpentine belt on the car. I may swap the AC Compressor while I'm in there. I'm aching to get this car on the road ASAP....

Re: New Owners of a 1987 Allante.....

Well everyone, the Allante is NEARLY ROAD READY! The serpentine belt and alternator issue have been resolved, the distributor is set and locked firmly in place, all 4 tires are inflated and hold air, brand new battery, and the car starts and runs. I just have one more issue to resolve, if anyone can help I will be ecstatic!

The car when started for some reason idles at 2,300 RPMs. The gas pedal seems to be almost to the floor and I think the ISC is pulling it, can anyone give me some ideas on how to fix this? This is really the only issue keeping the car off the road since there's no way in hell I'm putting it in gear like that. ANY HELP WILL BE APPRECIATED!!

I will reward my assistance with pics of the car completely cleaned up, and topless......

Re: New Owners of a 1987 Allante.....

nah jk, mine does something similar, it idles high, but not 2300 high. do you have the orange "Engine Management System Fault" message (i think thats what it says...)

if so pull the codes, if you get e030 its your ISC which you pretty much knew already. unless something is making the linkage bind up the only solution ive found is replacing the ISC. Ive already gotten my replacement, it was pretty easy, 3 nuts come off and it just wiggles. i havent had a chance to put mine back in though

Re: New Owners of a 1987 Allante.....

nah jk, mine does something similar, it idles high, but not 2300 high. do you have the orange "Engine Management System Fault" message (i think thats what it says...)

if so pull the codes, if you get e030 its your ISC which you pretty much knew already. unless something is making the linkage bind up the only solution ive found is replacing the ISC. Ive already gotten my replacement, it was pretty easy, 3 nuts come off and it just wiggles. i havent had a chance to put mine back in though

Basically all my pondering leads me to just swapping it so I think that's the way to go. I cross referenced them and they're expensive new, but very common along the GM line so I'm gonna try to find a cheap new one or a good used one to throw in. The psudo check engine light is on but the DIC says "ANTILOCK DISABLED" so I gotta imagine that's why. Once I get the thing running correctly I'll do the majority of the diagnostics. Question about the alternator though, are they unique to this car?

Re: New Owners of a 1987 Allante.....

i wont even act like i know the answer to your last question haha. i DO know that ive seen plenty on ebay for $50 or less.

the bad news is your "antilock disabled" message. that could kill the whole project due to cost or it could be something minor.

try this real fast and go ahead and get it out of the way:

engage the parking brake, you may have to "pump" it 3 or 4 times for it to be fully engaged.
now above the parking brake pedal, there is a "hidden" lever, its metal, mines isnt coated, its just bare metal.
this lever will release the pedal, and the pedal is spring loaded
with that in mind, reach in keeping your arm/hand out of the way of the pedals travel path
press the lever and it should release the pedal, this will hopefully clear your brake light and antilock disabled message.

Re: New Owners of a 1987 Allante.....

Regarding you ANTI-LOCK DISABLED message:

1) Check the parking brake, first and foremost.
2) Let the car idle for about a minute. It takes some time to pump up the ABS system, seeing that message is normal on startup if it's been left parked for a bit. It should go away after about 20 seconds or so.

If the brake light stays on and the Anti-Lock Disabled message stays on:GO HERE!

Dick Hussey really can't be thanked enough for having some of his info online, for free, to anyone looking to diagnose some of the Allante's more infamous flaws.

Regarding your high idle:

Sometimes, the on-board computer needs to relearn the correct idle. IIRC, you have to let the car idle for 15 minutes with the A/C and heater off, and then turn the A/C or heater on and then let it idle for another 15 minutes.

Re: New Owners of a 1987 Allante.....

Originally Posted by billc83

By the way, Dopestar, welcome to the Allante family!

Thank you.... *bows*

I get the idle process of relearning, but 2,300 RPMs? I would happily let it run for a while to get it's bearings back but I'm not too thrilled about racing the engine on a 9 month dormant HT4100 motor. If it was running at 1,500 RPM's I'd think it would just wind down on it's own but this just doesn't sound right......

I'm gonna maybe try it again and see if it still feels like running that high. In addition to not being started for that long, it's also had no electricity either so the ECM and BCM have been just as dormant. It's prolly going through some future shock having been revived in a completely new decade with iPads, LCD HDTVs, and internet connected everything. I had my Droid 2 sitting on the dash when I started it, maybe it freaked the car out......

Re: New Owners of a 1987 Allante.....

Ok, update today. Mostly good news......

The car idles correctly for the most part. I started it up today and it ran at 1,500 rpms. It eventually wound down but bounces between 700 and 1,000. It continues to run like this, until it stalls after a few minutes. Sometimes it comes close to stalling but then runs upward past 1,000 to compensate so the ISC seems to be doing it's job. It would also stall when going into gear half the time I tried unless I did it no more than a couple seconds after starting. I would think from sitting there's some crap in the bottom of the gas tank causing the erratic idle and stalling. The car also drove poorly, shuddered under acceleration and stalled when I pulled it back into the parking spot. My Fleetwood did this after sitting for almost a year at a shop and some SeaFoam in the tank straightened it right out, I'm sure this will do the trick......

The second problem would be the brakes. I checked the master cylinder and the fluid level was very low The pedal would go to the floor and there would be little kickbacks or pulses, probably from the ABS. I filled the master cylinder up and the pedal seemed to gain some firmness but for the most part the brakes aren't what they should be. Bleeding the master cylinder is what I'm thinking, I'd like to get the car on some pavement so I can crawl under it and inspect the brake lines.....

The third problem was the trans was very rough going into gear and doesn't shift too well. I got the car to move a bit but wouldn't go faster than 37-38 mph. I checked the trans fluid and it was in the cross hatching so I'm assuming the fluid level went down. I'm gonna top off the trans fluid and try again.....

Most of these issues I would think are common for a car that's been sitting for almost a year so I'm not too worried. If anyone has any insight feel free to post. I'm gonna be back at the car again on Sunday......

PS, I did do some engine revving while the car was in Park and at running temp and for an HT4100, it has a very intoxicating growl...... Mmmmmm...... *shiver*

Re: New Owners of a 1987 Allante.....

Again, check out the link I posted earlier; it gives instructions for how to bleed the brakes. It's a bit more complicated than just bleeding the master cylinder - you also have to bleed out the pump and calipers, but it's all very easy if you're even somewhat mechanically inclined. (If I can do it, seriously anyone should be able to do it!)

Basically, for bleeding the in-engine compartment components, you open the bleed valves and turn on the car. The pump will force the nasty old brake fluid out. Having a second person really speeds the process along. The calipers are bled conventionally.

Just remember to hit the brakes 25 times or so before you work to depressurize the system.

Re: New Owners of a 1987 Allante.....

Now, worst case scenario I need a Booster/Master Cylinder. I've been looking around and they're not available anymore? Can you get these parts anywhere? Could a system from a FWD Eldorado/Seville be adapted to work in the Allante?